More than Chocolate

Hi friends! It's Monday again already and that means it's time for a new Mojo Monday sketch.  My son, Trevor, helped me with the sketches this month.  He sat on my lap and told me what shapes to draw and where to draw them.  I think we might have a little sketch master in the making! {grin} When we finished the month's sketches he told me he would help me with February's on another day, he needed a break!

As my boys say, it's been winter for days and days and days around here. With all the snow and rain and freezing temperatures, I felt like I needed a little perking up.  So I chose these fun, vibrant papers from the Fancy Free collection by Pink Paislee.  Each layer is matted in basic gray cardstock.  I stamped the sentiment and the candy hearts from the Chocolate set in grey ink, then colored the candies with copics and die cut the circles.  The Chocolate Word Die  is cut from basic gray cardstock and I finished with a bit of taffeta ribbon and a bow.

It wasn't planned, but I kind of love how the word bubble that catches my eye on the designer paper is the one that says "whatever".  Which is what I can totally imagine Mark saying when he reads this sentiment!  LOL

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Head on over to the Mojo Monday blog to see what the other designers did with this sketch.  We hope you'll play along!

Enabler's List
Stamps: Chocolate (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Fancy Free (Pink Paislee), basic gray, blushing bride (SU!), white (Neenah)
Ink: Lava Rock (Altenew), markers (Copic)
Accessories: Chocolate Word Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), stitched circles STAX (MFT), classic and pinking circles nestabilities (Spellbinders), taffeta ribbon (SU!), Nuvo crystal drops (Tonic)

Cocoa Kindness and a Hop

Oops!  Sorry my hop post is late.  I accidentally scheduled it for 5pm instead of 5am.  Doh!

Hi friends!  It's time for another Diva Inspirations Blog Hop to kick off Verve's December inspiration challenge.  I'm the first stop on the hop, so grab a treat and get ready for a little loveliness from the Divas inspired by this month's challenge theme... A Cup of Kindness!  There's a blog hop prize and a challenge prize up for grabs, as well as a free limited time digital download on our site!

For my project, I made an easy little hot chocolate holder with stamps from the Chocolate set and the keep calm senteiment from Coffee.  It's an 8.5 x 5.5" piece of cardstock, scored at 5.5" just like an A2 card, then I cut a diagonal piece off the front.  The bottom is adhered with sticky strip and I punched two holes with my crop a dile on the side to feed the ribbon through to tie my candy cane on.  Then it was just a matter of dressing it up with papers and stamps.  I also added a few wood stars which I embossed with frantage shabby embossing enamel.  Those seem to be my go-to embellishments this season.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I can't wait to hop along and see the colorful creations from the other Divas!  I hope you'll play along with us too!  You can find all the challenge details and linkup info on the Verve Blog.

Next up on the hop is the fabulous Amy Kolling!

Need a little inspiration? Check out the blogs linked below to see what the other Divas did with the challenge! It's sure to be a treat, and speaking of treats, we've got a prize for one lucky commenter along the hop! Check out the Verve Blog today for all the prize info and deadlines!

	1. Julee	5. Susan
	2. Amy	6. Stacey
	3. Betty	7. Maureen
	4. Sarah	8. Marisa

Enabler's List
Stamps:  Chocolate , Coffee. (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Holiday Style (October Afternoon), tiptop taupe, early espresso (SU!), cream (Neenah)
Ink: vintage photo (Ranger Distress), Early Espresso (SU!), VersaMark
Accessories: Chocolate Word Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), seam binding, linen thread (SU!), wood veneer snowflakes, jingle bells, frantage shabby aqua embossing enamel (Stampendous), glossy glaze, glitter, stitched circles stax (MFT), corner rounder

Most Days

Hi friends!  It's Friday and time for another Viva la Verve challenge.  This week's sketch is from the lovely Anya, and I'm pretty excited about it, because I love square cards and I adore little nests of thread/twine.

I'm a bit later posting than usual.  We're all still sick at my house and the boys didn't fall asleep until almost midnight last night, meaning there was no crafty time.  So I woke up early and headed into my neglected studio.

I pulled out the new Chocolate set and coordinating Chocolate Word Die,, stamping the milkshake image in Early Espresso and then coloring with Copic markers.  I stamped the sentiment in strawberry slush, then also cut a flag from the Flag It Die Set from strawberry slush and stamped repeatedly with the small chocolate word stamp from the set.  Then I went looking for paper.  Loved the look of this mint paper and let out a little squee when I saw that the tiny text on it spells the days of the week... a perfect match for my sentiment!

Finished with the Chocolate Word Die, and a bow using the Polka Dot Basics Ribbon Collection.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  This was the first morning in several weeks I didn't wake up feeling like I'd been run over by a MACK truck, so I think I'm on the mend.

If you're feeling like a little shopping this weekend, I finally refreshed the website this week and our April sale is 20% off all stamps AND dies!  Yay!  The past 7 weeks of sickness has really taken a hit on my momentum with Verve.  Unfortunately the sweet little bunnies and egg stamps that were almost ready to be sent to manufacturing are now just early for next year.  I did get a chance to do a little stamp designing yesterday and am hoping to finish up something new for Verve very soon!

Viva la Verve April Week 2 Sketch

Enabler's List
Stamps: Chocolate (Verve Stamps)
Paper: strawberry slush, early espresso (SU!),
Ink: strawberry slush, early espresso (SU!), white gel pen
Accessories:  Chocolate Word Die, Flag It Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), Polka Dot Basics Ribbon Collection (Verve), scrapper's floss (Karen Foster)

If All Else Fails

Hi friends!  It's Monday again and time for a new Mojo Monday sketch!  Wanda designed this week's super fun sketch.  Be sure to hop over and give her a shout out!

I made a simple card, as I'm pretty much dead on my feet after having my son Kellan spend a night in pediatric ICU, then two more nights on the pediatric ward for an acute asthma attack.  I'm hoping at his followup visit today they say we can taper the breathing treatments we've been doing every 4 hours round the clock since we came home on Saturday.  It's been a super stressful week to say the least, especially trying to pull off a release while I was in the hospital. Thank goodness for wifi and an in hospital Starbucks!!!  And today is Kellan and Trevor's 3rd birthday!  So glad he didn't have to spend it in the hospital!

Anyhow, chocolate was one of my go-to's this past week, so I thought this  If all else fails, there is chocolate sentiment  from the Chocolate set was fitting.  I had already stamped, colored and cut out the chocolate bar image from a previous project, then decided to pop in onto a circle cut from a Starbucks java jacket.  The sentiment is stamped on pool party and I also stamped the dripping chocolate on the circle, then on my main layer and lined them up.  The background is embossed with a Tim Holtz embossing folder and I lightly colored it with Pan Pastels.

Thanks so much for stopping by and thanks so much to everyone who said a little prayer for Kellan this past week.  It is much appreciated.

If you haven't checked out the new Verve release yet, head on over...

Mojo Monday 388

Enabler's List
Stamps: Chocolate (Verve Stamps)
Paper: pool party, crumb cake, early espresso (SU!), cream (Neenah), java jacket (Starbucks)
Ink: early espresso (SU!), copic markers, pan pastels
Accessories: classic circles nestabilites (Spellbinders), Rays Texture Fades (Ranger by Tim Holtz), embossing powder

Chocolate Spotlight Hop

Welcome to Verve's New Release Spotlight Hop! Verve is releasing a brand new set, coordinating word die and a couple of shaker mixes today, and the new goodies are available right now in the Verve store! I'm the first stop on the hop, so let's get to it!

My first card today combines a sentiment from the new Chocolate set with the coffee beans stamps from our Coffee set and the Coffee Word Die.  Awhile ago I saw someone use a pencil eraser around a die cut heart to make a fun stamped heart, so I decided to try it with coffee beans and the Wavy Hearts Die Set.  I taped down the heart die cut then stamped over the edges of it in a few different colors, then pulled the die cut up.  Next I cut the Wavy Heart in black and embossed the sentiment from Chocolate in white, dusting the edges with white ink too for a chalkboard effect.  I layered a pool party and a basic black diecut of the Coffee Word Die below then added a handcut butterfly from the designer paper I used. Perfect for spring and for the Spring Coffee Lovers Bloghop!

For my next project, I made a fun little chocolate bar treat box using the keep calm and eat sentiment from Chocolate, combined with the new Chocolate Word Die.  I cut the word die from patterned paper and then coated with a thick layer of glossy glaze for an almost enamel look in real life. The arrow is a piece of resist chipboard that I sponged with distress inks.

That's all from me today!  Thanks so much for stopping by!  Next up on the hop is...  Amber!



Want to win some shiny new Verve? We'll be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win the new release! So be sure to leave a little comment on all the blogs below to increase your chances! Check out the Verve Blog today for a little more about our new products and all the prize info!

1. Julee	7. Laurie
2. Amber	8. Marisa
3. Andrea	9. Maureen
4. Chaitali	10. Stacey
5. Charmaine	11. Teresa
6. Christyne

More than Chocolate

Hi friends!  Another week has flown by and it's already time for a new Mojo Monday sketch!  And since it's the first week of a brand new month, than means there are prizes up for grabs if you play along with this week's Mojo Monday sketch!

My card is a sneak peek at the brand new Chocolate set and word die that will be releasing this Friday from Verve. {For another sneak peek card click here.}  I made the card I'm sharing today a couple weeks ago for Mark's birthday, since he used to tease me about my love affair with chocolate. I wrote "and that's a whole lot" as the inside sentiment.   {grin}

The I love you more than sentiment is stamped inside the shaker which I made with classic and pinking circle nestabilities and some sequins from the Signature Sequin Mix.  I accented with a bit of liquid pearls around the circle, then die cut the Chocolate Word Die and layered it below.  The chocolate hearts are embossed tone on tone on chocolate chip cardstock, then hand trimmed and I stamped and embossed the dripping chocolate border stamp tone on tone as well.  I finished off with a hearts embossed card base, a few rounded corners and some lightly sponged edges.

In other news, Verve's restocking shipment arrived over the weekend, so I've added 44 out of stock products back into inventory and extended our 20% off all stamps sale through March 15!  Hooray!

Mojo Monday 387

Enabler's List
Stamps: Chocolate (releasing from Verve 3/16/15)
Paper: dp scraps, Chocolate Chip (SU!), cream (Neenah)
Ink: chocolate chip (SU!), vintage photo (Ranger Distress)
Accessories:  Chocolate Word Die  (releasing from Verve 3/16/15), Signature Sequin Mix (Verve), classic & pinking circles nestabilities (Spellbinders), clear embossing powder (Judikins), hearts embossing folder (Sizzix), corner rounder, liquid pearls